NATO formalizes the election of Rutte as Secretary General since October 1

The handover comes days before the summit of the Atlantic Alliance in Washington, where it commemorates its 75th anniversary and plans to increase its support for Ukraine.

The Dutch Prime Minister, who rejected an initial offer to lead NATO, has had to work very hard this time to secure the position. He succeeded after his only declared rival, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, withdrew last Thursday, despite maintaining his candidacy until the end without garnering support.

In his seduction offensive, Rutte has had to convince those who were initially staunch adversaries, such as Turkish Prime Minister,  Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, the most difficult obstacle he had to overcome was Hungarian Prime Minister,  Viktor Orbán.

In a heated summit in June 2021, Rutte showed Orbán the door out of the EU for approving anti-LGBT legislation (which has been brought before the European Court of Justice by Brussels for being incompatible with European values). "The long-term goal is to bring Hungary to its knees on this issue", Rutte also reportedly said during the closed-door debate.

The Budapest government has never forgotten these words and has forced the Dutchman to apologize. He did so in person to Orbán in a meeting last Monday in Brussels, and also in a letter."As we discussed, I have noted that some statements I made in 2021 as Prime Minister of the Netherlands caused displeasure in Hungary. My priority in a possible future position as NATO Secretary General will be to maintain unity and treat all allies with the same level of understanding and respect," Rutte said in his letter.

In addition, the new NATO Secretary General has agreed to give special treatment to Hungary, which will in no way participate in the training of Ukrainian troops or the shipping of military equipment to Kyiv.

The Dutchman is one of the most senior members of the European Council (second only to Orbán himself), having served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010. In his role he has led coalition governments of all stripes (both with the far-right and with social democrats) and has survived all kinds of political crises.

In fact, Rutte has been dubbed as  Mr. Teflon (for his ability to come out unscathed from all scandals) and also as  Mr. Normal, for his austere lifestyle comparable to that of any ordinary Dutchman. In fact, he has always liked to ride his bicycle to work despite being the Prime Minister.

His father was a merchant and his mother a secretary, and he is the youngest of seven siblings. He studied history at Leiden University and his political vocation emerged early: he became president of the liberal youth organization at 21.

However, before holding any public office, he worked for 10 years in the private sector, specifically in the human resources department of the multinational Unilever.

Between 2002 and 2006, he served as Secretary of State for Employment and Social Affairs and later for Education and Culture in the governments led by the Christian democrat Jan Peter Balkenende. In 2006, he became leader of the liberal party and in 2010 he won the elections for the first time and formed his first coalition government.

Despite his work as Prime Minister, Rutte spends two hours a week teaching at a high school in The Hague. There he teaches Dutch and social studies, as stated in his curriculum vitae.